In a sad story, a 35 year old woman was struck and killed in Riverside as she attempted to cross the street at Tyler Street at Kidd Street. A 2007 GMC truck struck the woman at about 8:30 p.m. shortly after dark. Condolences to the family of the killed woman.

Have you ever experienced a situation where you looked left then right and still didn’t see the pedestrian crossing the street? I have and it is really scary to know I came so close to hitting an unprotected pedestrian. It is so easy to miss seeing a pedestrian when you as a driver are looking for cars, trucks and motorcycles. Pedestrian accidents are often serious if not fatal.

So as a pedestrian how do you protect yourself from accidents, or in an accident? Here are five things you should do.

3. Cross in a crosswalk and not in the middle of a block, drivers will not expect you to be walking in the middle of the street and

4. Use defensive strategies when crossing the street. In other words, do not think the driver of the car or truck will see you in the street

5. Protect yourself with a large uninsured motorist insurance policy. You will be covered if the insurance policy of the driver is insufficient to cover your losses.

I once represented a girl who darted across the street and was hit be a car that sped off following the accident. She suffered significant injuries but was able to recover from most of them. Until she came to our office with her father, they did not know that their insurance had uninsured motorist coverage that would protect her from a hit and run driver. The small preparation and forethought of her father protected her from loss. We settled for the policy limits.